VOLUME 5, NUMBER 8: SUBMIT YOUR NOMINATIONS! MEET FOUR NEW BOARD MEMBERS...

OFF MIC

by TnRHOF President Doug Combs

August, 2017

ENTER THE TENNESSEE RADIO HALL OF FAME WEBSITE

On May 6th, 2017,

the Tennessee Radio

Hall of Fame welcomed

six new members into

Career category, and five

members into the Legacy

category. The nomination

period is at the half way

point for the class of

2018.

All of us have

worked with worthy

individuals in our industry. In the past six years, we

have watched as our inductee list has grown. As the

years pass, we learn more about our industry and

more about good people who gave and continue to

give their best for radio. Have we found everyone who

deserves the honor of induction into the hall? NO. With

only a half dozen persons in each category each year,

we’re barely off to a good start.

Each year, we learn of more worthy persons from

across Tennessee, as well as others who started their

careers here or worked here for several years. With

a limit on inductees each year, not every worthy

nominee is inducted. If the person you submitted

earlier hasn’t been voted in, it may be time to

nominate him/her AGAIN.

With that said, what is next? I have two questions

for you.

First, is your membership current? If not,

please renew! Only current members can make

nominations and vote for inductees. Garry Mac, Skip

Woolwine and I are working to make sure everyone

can renew their membership quickly. Many of you

have renewed online already. Some have mailed

checks, and I’m checking the mailbox and processing

those requests. Some of you have just picked up the

Ron Lane

Randy Lane

Bob Loflin

Karen Lykins

Steve Mann

Bill McCallie

Richard Medley

Terrell Metheny

Dick Palmer

Jack Parnell

Jaine Rodeck

Jim Stapleton

Kara Arnold Stevens

Al Voecks

Dude Walker

Maxine Wiseman

Ron Worrell

Kimberly Batts

Marte Beaty

Gary Beaty

Tim Berry

Keith Bilbrey

Ronald Bledsoe

Beth Brown

Fred Buc

Brian Craig

Allen Dick

Susanne Dalton Dupes

Jim Gilmore

Terry Hailey

John Hartridge

Maxine Humphreys

Susie James

Collins Jones

phone and given us your credit card number. Whatever

works for you works for us. If you are unsure about your

membership status, call me at (615) 476-4625 or email

dougcombs@comcast.net. I will be glad to check for you.

Second, what worthy broadcaster do you think

should be nominated? Maybe it’s a former co-worker.

Maybe it’s someone you listened to on your way to/from/

after school. Maybe it was the person who influenced you

and made the right impression on you to “be better” at what

you were doing.

From Memphis to Mountain City, Union City to Iron

City, our state is full of radio history. The more we listen,

the more we understand why the name “Volunteer State”

truly shines in radio!

Exciting things are happening in our organization. Stay

active as we move forward!

Doug

Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame E-Waves Page 2

Get Those Nominations Submitted!

We’re halfway through the annual period during which

members can nominate candidates for the Tennessee

Radio Hall of Fame's seventh group of inductees, the

Class of 2018. The nominating period which began on

July 1, will conclude at midnight on August 31, 2017.

To nominate a broadcaster for this honor you

must be an active member in good standing. If you need

to renew your membership, please go to http://

tennesseeradiohalloffame.wildapricot.org/Join

Remember that to be considered, all nominees must

have worked in Tennessee broadcasting for at least two

years and must have a total broadcasting career of at

least 10 years.

Nominations can be made in two categories:

1. Career: These candidates are living at the time of

the nomination.

2. Legacy: These candidates are deceased at the

time of the nomination.

The first step in submitting a nomination is to

download the official nomination form from our website at

www.tennesseeradiohalloffame.org. Nominations must

be made by two active full members of the organization.

and must include a high resolution photo of the

nominee. Incomplete nominations will be returned.

The Hall does not carry nominations over from year to

year. However, persons may save the materials they have

gathered and resubmit a nominee’s name during another

year.

If more than 15 nominations are accepted in the

Career category, active full members will vote to narrow

the ballot down to 15 nominees in an online preliminary

election to be held in the month of October. The Board of

Directors will then select the six inductees from the 15.

The Board of Directors and the Advisory Council will

select the six Legacy inductees from all of the nominations

accepted. The Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame looks

forward to inducting another great class of Tennessee

radio broadcasters from across the state next year!

Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame E-Waves Page 3

Meet Your Four New Board Members!

Above: Bill Buchanan, George DeVault, Beth Miller Green, Ron Worrell, Melissa McDonald and Doug Combs.

Four new board members were elected during the general membership meeting in July. Here’s some info to help you get acquainted.

Paul Randall Dickerson, whose real name is (see the first three words of this sentence), is a

retired broadcaster and wire service journalist. He had been on the air in three other states

when he first came to Tennessee, landing a midday jock show on WKGN in Knoxville in

1969. He later became program director. After a sojourn through four out-of-state markets, he

came back to the Volunteer State in 1976 and became news director of WMAK in Nashville,

later moving to WLAC. Not wishing to work for the eventual new owners of the latter station,

Dickerson went to WBT in Charlotte, NC, for a year and a half before that 50,000-watt

siren song of WSM brought him back. There was a corporate executive stint at now-defunct

REBS Broadcasting in Nashville, followed by a second coming at WLAC as operations

manager. Dickerson was scouted by The Associated Press, which was then ramping up its

broadcast writing, and joined the AP in 1989 as Tennessee broadcast editor and Tennessee

correspondent for AP Network News. He shut down his terminal and brought home his coffee

cup on Aug. 30, 2013.

Bobby Melton is a 1972 graduate of Camden Central High School, and a received a B.S. in

Communications in 1976 from UT Knoxville. In 1972, he began his radio career as a part-time

DJ at WFWL in Camden. In 1976, he went to work as full-time News and Sports Director

of WRJB-FM when it went on the air in Camden. In 1983, he became a full-time dispatcher

at the Camden Police Department, and still works there today as Records Clerk. But he

has always remained involved with both WFWL and WRJB on a part-time basis. Since 1991,

he has been the "Voice of the Camden Lions" for football, basketball, softball and baseball

broadcasts. He has also covered news and special events for the stations and has been

involved in numerous community activities. He was named The Camden Chronicle's Reader's

Choice Radio Personality in 2010, 2012 and 2016. In May of 2017, he was inducted into the

Benton County High School Sports Hall of Fame.

Brent Stoker has spent 30+ years in advertising, radio and media. His father, Gordon Stoker,

started his broadcast career on WSM Radio in 1942. He later became first tenor and leader of

the vocal quartet, the Jordanaires, best known for the 12 years they provided background

vocals for Elvis Presley, Patsy Cline, Ricky Nelson, Loretta Lynn and many others. A visit

to 1300 WMAK’s Exchange Building studios in the late 1960s convinced Brent he wanted to

get into radio. After graduating from Austin Peay State University, and a part-time stint at

Nashville’s WWGM 1560 AM, he started his full time radio career, like his dad 40 years earlier,

at WSM. He moved from programing to promotion, and was named Billboard’s Country Radio

Promotion Director of the Year in 1992. He spent four years selling radio advertising at WSM’s

(then) sister talk radio station, WWTN-FM, was General Manager for 1240 WKDA, and spent

nine years as Advertising and Sponsorship Manager for AT&T. Now a Nashville-area Realtor,

Brent serves as a member of the Greater Nashville Realtor’s Affordable Housing Committee,

and the Membership Committee for Historic Nashville.

Pete Weber has been in broadcasting since 1972, breaking into the business in his

hometown of Galesburg, Illinois. He then moved along to South Bend, Indiana, Los

Angeles, Albuquerque, and Seattle, but spent his early years covering all sports in Buffalo

(1976-78, 1983-98). When the National Hockey League expanded by four teams over the

course of the 1998-99 through the 1999-2000 seasons, Weber was hired by the Predators

to be their first “voice.” He remains there today. In January 2017, he won his fifth Tennessee

Sportscaster of the Year award in six years, as voted by the National Sports Media Associa-

tion. In the same month, he broadcast his 2000th NHL game. A regional Emmy award

winner (2003, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2015), Pete is on the Board of Governors for the

Mid-South’s chapter for the National Academy of TV Arts and Sciences. He has also served

on the advisory board of the Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame. Weber holds two degrees from

the University of Notre Dame. He and his wife Claudia, reside in Nashville.

Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame E-Waves Page 4

Legendary FM 100 Still Thriving

Above: FM 100 bumper sticker and other promotional items from the station’s decades of archives. (continued on page 5)

On February 6, 1967, WMC switched their FM station

to a rock music format, becoming one of the first FM

stations in the country to play rock and roll — and the first

in Tennessee. Now, 40 years later, FM 100 is still playing

the hits and is still a Memphis market ratings success.

Although the station came on the air in 1947, they

primarily simulcast the AM station's format of MOR music

and NBC News and features. But in 1964, the FCC ruled

that by 1967, AM stations could only simulcast on their

FM frequency a limited number of hours per day. After

reading about FM rock stations in New York and San

Francisco, WMC manager Dean Osmundson decided to

turn FM 100 into a rock station.

by Brian Craig TRHOF Historian

Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame E-Waves Page 5

At first, FM 100 played more of the pop hits of the

day, especially in the daytime. Later, the station moved in

a more progressive/album rock direction.

In the early 1970s, night time DJ Jon Scott

helped to showcase and build success for many new acts,

including David Bowie. By the late 70s, FM 100 became

more of a top 40 station and later evolved into the current

Hot Adult Contemporary format. But for 40 years, the

station has played contemporary music and has always

been called FM 100, a record few FM stations can match.

Morning DJ Ron Olson, except for a couple of years at a

competitor, has been at the station since 1974.

On May 7, Jon Scott organized a FM 100 reunion at

Lafayette's Music Room in Memphis. DJs from throughout

the station's history gathered together for a panel

discussion on the station's history and to hear live music

by local Memphis artists who the station had played over

the years.

Legendary FM 100 Still Thriving (continued from page 4)

Above: Ron Olson and Steve Conley. (Photo by Lee Sudbury)

Left: Dave Brown with Jon Scott. (Photo by Lee Sudbury)

Below: A reunion of classic FM 100 announcers, from left to right: Mike

Powell, Greg Hamilton, Gary Phillips, Jon Scott, Mitch McCracken and

Leon Griffin. (Photo by Lee Sudbury)

Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame E-Waves Page 6

Radio’s death knell was sounded in the 1950s when

television sets became the new family shrine. Amazingly,

radio didn’t die. It was reinvented. Some large operators,

convinced their radio properties were doomed, sold

some large sticks at bargain prices to some very inventive

people. Radio morphed from a family entertainment

medium to a very personal one-on-one experience.

The somber bell rang again when satellite radio

appeared and pundits assured us terrestrial radio was on

life support. The machines have been turned off, the

patient was found to be breathing on his/her own and has

been released from intensive care.

So, who does this dinosaur keep marching on like the

Energizer bunny? It’s the medium, stupid! Local radio can

tell you what the satellites can’t. Local news, weather,

sports, traffic, community events and the things that matter

to people who live in their communities.

The late Marshall McLuhan (What are you doin’,

Marshall McLuhan?) defined television as a passive,

across-the-room affair. It was “medium cool.” Radio, by

contrast, happens in your head! It’s red hot! You make your

own pictures. Nearly every listener on the planet has had

this love affair with radio lifelong.

Yeah, I hear how radio isn’t what it used to be.

I’m sympathetic to that. I loved the way it was, but

radio has morphed again and again to remain viable. It’s

changing again. AM stations are signing on FM translators.

Entrepreneurs are marketing local information content to

several clients at once.

We love what radio was, but let’s be positive about

what radio is becoming. Some of that intuition some of us

old folks have stored can be valuable to today’s operators.

Call one up. Ask how you can help.

Radio is still red hot.

Red Hot Radio

by Paul Randall Dickerson TRHOF Board Member

The Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame:The Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame:The Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame:

Working to Preserve Working to Preserve Working to Preserve Tennessee’s Rich Radio History.Tennessee’s Rich Radio History.Tennessee’s Rich Radio History.

Don’t forget — (nudge, nudge)

REMINDERS

What’s Your Radio Story?

Do you have a radio story you’d like to share?

It can be anything that is part of your radio history.

We love radio stories. Please, tell us yours.

Just email it to starmagic@comcast.net.

Keeping Up With the Hall

Our newsletter is published the first of every month. Back issues may be viewed on our official website:

www.tennradiohalloffame.org Let Treasurer Garry Mac know of any change

in your email address so you don’t miss an issue!

Collecting Our History

The Hall has a committee to collect and purchase Tennessee radio memorabilia, including old microphones, on-air signage, transmitter parts, promotional items and

anything else related to radio stations in our state.

If you have items to donate (or purchase on Ebay, Craigslist, etc.) please contact Nick Archer via a

message on the TnRHOF Facebook page.

Our Facebook page now boasts more than 1,200 members, and our YouTube Page includes air checks,

inductions and other audio/video memories.

Check Your Calendar

August 26, 2017 Board Meeting (Board Only)

12-noon - 2:00 p.m. Location TBA

More Events Coming Soon! To check the TRHOF event calendar anytime,

go to the home page of our website: http://tennradiohalloffame.org

Editor: Melissa McDonald starmagic@comcast.net

Reporters: Buddy Sadler sbuddy@bellsouth.net Cathy Martindale cathymartindale@comcast.net

General email: TennRHOF@gmail.com

© 2017 The Tennessee Radio Hall Of Fame, Inc. P.O. Box 158921

Nashville, TN 37215

An IRS 501(c)3 Entity All Rights Reserved.

Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame E-Waves Page 7

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